Oil price likely to remain under pressure in 2018

The latest news from oil-producing countries confirmed the persistent difficulty in reducing production to raise the price of oil. Indeed, the OPEC has warned of a likely surplus of production in 2018 although being at a high level already. According to the latest monthly report of the organization, world oil demand is expected to remain stable at about 32.20 million barrels per day (bpd).

Member countries such as Nigeria and Libya and non-member countries such as Canada and Brazil are expected to support the current level of global output mainly driven by US production’s stability. Also, the enforcement of the agreement that aims at reducing global oil production by 1.2 million bpd between January 2017 and March 2018 would be more random than expected – in particular on behalf of Russia – Middle Eastern sources said.

WTI (CL) oil price has ranged from USD 43 to USD 54 per barrel in the last three months, far from the USD 100 seen in 2014.